Teacher Shortage Is A Difficult Time With Teacher Shortages Essay

The issue of teacher shortage today is continuing to grow. The effects of the achievement gap are reaching the teachers, not just the students: “...good administrators and teachers, who are doing their best under difficult circumstances, will be driven out of the profession…,” (Boyd-Zaharias 41). The achievement gap is part of the reason teachers feel they are underpaid, which happens to be one of the leading cause in teacher shortage considering, “Teachers were paid two percent less [than comparable workers] in 1994, but by 2015 the wage penalty rose to 17 percent,” (Long). Being a teacher requires passion in order to stay in the field, especially if the money in teaching is decreasing. Money is an important aspect for people when it comes to their careers, therefore, fewer people want to become teachers. This lack of teachers and the lack of college students studying to become a teacher leads to unqualified teachers and larger classroom sizes (Ostroff). Both of these causes are eventually affecting students’ learning environments. I chose this issue in education for my project because I have personally felt these effects, and I know others who have as well. As a future educator, I want to see better wages and better benefits, but this can only happen with qualified, passionate teachers. I plan on being one of them, and I plan on sparking a change. I am a future educator fighting to end teacher shortage.

Purpose: To persuade the class to recognize the issue of teacher shortages, consider the proposed ways to correct the issue, and work to rectify the situation.

In Charlotte, it was reported that 1000 teachers resigned from North Carolina schools. This massive number of teachers leavings schools in one city has many negative effects, but the real issue is why are these teachers leaving and how can it be fixed? So what needs to be done? Everyday educators in North Carolina weigh the pros and cons of their jobs and ask themselves ‘is this little to no pay worth working as an educator?’ or ‘are these large classes of students able to acquire the proper learning?’. Being ranked the second worst state for educators to pursue a career in has put North Carolina in a tight spot. What can be done to get North Carolina’s education system

The success of the education system in California continues to be dependent on the willingness to meet the changing needs of its population. In order for the state government to insure that educators are up to the challenge, the factors influencing California teacher credentialing must be known. Due to evolving student needs since the

“Just as we recognize that aspiring doctors need training before they can diagnose and prescribe, we must acknowledge that reaching candidates require an upfront investment” (Polakow-suransky, Shael, Josh Thomases, and Karen Demoss. "Train Teachers Like Doctors." The New York Times. The New York Times, ).We should not treat teachers as if they are not important they are the ones that inspire people to take on the careers they choose to do. We have to make the teaching career just as important as being a lawyer or doctor. Many teachers dedicate a lot of time and patience into their career therefore they should not be looked over nor trained any

With beginning teachers usually earning entirely less than other college graduates, the profession is at loss of top-notch, quality people who tend to find jobs seeking more money. Almost 50 percent leave the profession within 5 years, lured by higher pay and prestige elsewhere in the booming U.S. economy (World, 1999, par. 7). Starting teachers average a $25,735 salary in the United States compared to an engineer earning $56,820 or a physical therapist earning $56,600 (Engineer, 2000, par.1). And what signal does it send out about the value of good teachers and a good education when a 45-year-old teacher with a master’s degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of law school often starts at $80,000, considering a six year education for a master’s degree and a seven year education for a law degree (Greenhouse, 2002, par. 4)? A teacher is also given no compensation for the long hours spent basically in overtime work. The teacher’s day does not end when they leave school because if lesson plans, grading, or planning is not completed, it will have to be finished on their own time. Accountants, paralegals, and engineers all are compensated and get paid overtime for work that does not get completed in a regular day or if they want to stay and

Many people turn away from teaching because of the low income salary, and the thought of continuing school for the next twenty plus years scares them, yet they don’t

The vast majority of people in the United States wouldn’t even have the job they have today if at least one specific career didn’t already exist. Without teachers, there would be no students, and without students, there would be no diplomas or degrees. Without proper education, people would not be qualified to work in their career field. It is unfortunate that such an important career has dropped to a six percent increase in growth for each year (“High School Teachers: Occupational Outlook Handbook: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), and it is probably due to how difficult it is to get into the teaching profession and stay in it. Teaching requires a Bachelor’s degree, specific training, and a great deal of patience.

According to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, almost half of teachers quit the profession after five years. I am beginning that critical fifth year mark as a teacher; however…I am not joining the ranks of teachers to leave. In fact, each passing school year confirms to me why teaching is my calling. I live for those eureka effects, “aha!” moments, tightly squeezed hugs, sparkled eyes, and much more! Every day I walk into my classroom ready to teach as if my hair is on fire!

Students need teachers in order to be successful. According to Alliance of Education over half a million teachers decide to leave teaching profession every year and costing the United States 2.2 billion (Haynes, 2014). New Teacher Center (NTC) a non-profit organization working all over the United States schools to form program that help with teacher effectiveness (Alliance for Education, 2014). The school district’s and states are hit in the pocket, but teacher and students pay the hardest price, said Bob Wise, President of the Alliance for Excellent Education (Amos, 2014). Kopkowski (2008), mentioned the turnover rate is 17 percent nationally for teachers and the inner-city it goes up to 20 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The aim of the study is mentoring novice teachers is closely linked with job satisfaction and teacher remaining in the classroom. According to the U. S. Department of Education (2013), Teacher Follow-up Survey that 51 percent of teachers left public school because teacher workload outweighed other professions. In the 2011-12 school year 84 percent of teachers of 3, 377,900 kept teaching, 8 percent move to other school, and the 8 percent left after one year (U. S. Department of Education, 2012). Induction for novice teachers is a major topic in the policy and reform (Ingersoll, 2012). Weale (2015) mentioned that out of 10 teachers 4 will leave the profession within a year, over 11,000 leave

The purpose of this study is to evaluate strategies when retaining quality teachers, and human resource personnel tend to run into problems of retaining effective teachers. These issues tend to be identifying quality teachers. The quality of a teacher is often seen after the teacher is in the classroom by reviewing students annual standardized test scores. Determining the quality of the teacher has been viewed in parallel of their pre-service training and university when recruiting. It has been common to offer favorable incentives to recruit “quality teachers” and offer competitive benefits to reduce the turnover rate. Large-scale education policy studies focus on relationships between easily classifiable teacher background

Increased student achievement has been the focus of many school districts across the country in recent years, looking at the level of student achievement, what is necessary to see an increase, and how to afford it. The retention of high quality teachers is an extremely important part of the puzzle. Teacher retention includes not only keeping the teachers who are difficult or impossible to replace, but also weeding out the teachers who need to be replaced. This process of evaluation and incentives must work together to attract and keep the best possible teachers in our classrooms so students can get the best possible education to be successful in the world to come.

The great, Greek Philosopher, Aristotle once said: “ Those who Educate Children Well, are more honored than they who produce them.” While most people will have multiple teachers throughout their lives, not many will know the struggles teachers face in their everyday work days. From dealing with moody teenagers to comforting small children who have lost their favorite toys, teachers have many of the same duties parents have, though most parents do not have 25 kids, all the same age. Although teaching may not seem like the most luxurious profession, the truth is the world needs teachers and will continue to need teachers until science finds a new, more efficient way of teaching the population, which does not seem to be happening anytime soon.

Teachers appreciably contribute to the molding of their students’ futures. Students may reconsider teaching as a career after gaining insight on it in the classroom. Their career desires in general are influenced based on multiple factors, primarily salary. There is always a need for more teachers, but with such an

interest in the content (Buchanan, 2012). Despite the motivation for entrance within the profession, the problem comes in when teacher departure from the school or profession becomes a consistent factor.